The Evolution of a Remote Control

Remote controllers have been around for over 6 decades, but they weren´t always as sophisticated as they are now. So how exactly have they evolved over time? Well let´s take a look...

Over the last few decades, the number
of consumer electronic devices that have infiltrated our living
room has significantly increased. And as a result, the number of
remote controls that we are forced to use has grown exponentially.
If you're operating a home theatre system, for instance, you may
even need as many as 5 or 6 remotes (and that isn't even mentioning
remote controlled lighting and curtains).

Remote controllers have been around
for over 6 decades, and they weren't always as sophisticated as
they are now. So how exactly have they evolved? Well let's take a
look...

The remote control entered our lives all those years ago as a
device that enabled us to change the television channel from the
comfort of our sofa, with perhaps the earliest example being the
Lazy Bones, which was launched in 1950.

The Lazy Bones was very simple and only had a few buttons. As
well as having a switch that would turn your TV on or off, there
were two other buttons that you would push to rotate the tuner
clockwise or counter-clockwise. Customers genuinely enjoyed being
able to operate the TV remotely, but they often complained that
they kept tripping over the cable.

As a result of this feedback, Zenith created the first wireless
TV remote control in 1955. Dubbed the "Flash - matic", the remote
was operated by means of four photo cells, with one in each corner
of the TV screen. The viewer then used a highly directional
flashlight to activate 4 control functions, which could turn the
picture and sound on and off, while you could change the channels
by turning the tuner dial clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Although the "Flash-matic" pioneered wireless TV control, it did
have its limitations. Most notably, it had no protection circuits,
meaning that when the shone directly on your set, the tuner would
often start rotating.

To overcome this problem, Zenith came back again with the Space
Command. Also known as a "clicker", the Space Command was a
mechanical controller that clicked and struck a bar when the user
pushed a button. Each bar omitted a different frequency, with the
circuits in the TV detecting this noise.

However, the original Space Command was expensive, as it needed
a rather technical receiver to be installed within the TV. This
unfortunately increased the price of your television set by about 30%

Further Innovation

Remote control technology further adapted and evolved during the
1960s. During this period, we saw the rise of hand-held
battery-powered control units that could now be designed to
generate the inaudible sound electronically.

But when we hit the 1980s, these seemingly primitive devices
were no good for us anymore. Now, our remote controllers used
semi-conductors for omitting and receiving infrared radiation to
switch on our television, change the channel, or adjust the volume.
With the infrared remote, each button had its own command, which it
sent to your set via a series of signals.

The emergence of infrared technology paved the way for the
universal remote. During the 1980s, Steve Wozniak of Apple was one
of the few people to show a real interest in developing a universal
remote control. The result of his hard work was the release of CORE
(Controller of Remote Equipment) in 1987.

CORE was (for the time) a fantastic piece of kit, as it could
learn to use remote signals from various other devices. It could
also be connected to a computer and be loaded with updated software
codes when needed. Yet CORE was never commercially successful, as
many consumers believed that the device was far too
complicated.

Now Days...

As with almost everything, we are now able to control our
television sets with our smartphones and tablets. And
unsurprisingly, many television manufacturers have jumped on the
band-wagon.

For instance, you can make the most of your
Panasonic TVs with the VIERA remote app. Not only does the app
allow you to change channels and play content, but it also give you
full touchpad interaction with all of the set's settings. What's
more, you can push pictures and videos from your Android or iOS
device to your screen, and you can even browse the web with your TV
as a monitor.

But perhaps the most sophisticated remote control on the market
currently is the
LG Magic Remote. The Magic Remote offers four modes of remote
control for Smart TVs- point, wheel, gesture, voice. This means
that you can use the wheel to switch between channels, while
speaking into your remote to browse the web (probably not a good
idea to do it at the same time though).

Most importantly though, we think that the Magic Remote is an
absolute blast to use, and it's certainly a far cry from the
Flash-matic and the Space Command found back in the 50s!